Modern Family star Ariel Winter wanted to grow up to be “a doctor, Wonder Woman or a lot of other different things.”

She would be lying like Pinocchio, however, if she didn’t acknowledge that she was born to be a Disney princess.

“I was named after the Little Mermaid, and she’s always been my favorite,” the 14-year-old actress said. “That’s why I also wanted to be a princess when I was younger.”

And now she is: Winter provides the voice for Sofia the First, an animated princess on Disney Junior.A movie, Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess, was shown on Sunday night to introduce the character; it will be shown again Thursday morning on Disney Junior. Then her royal TV series will be unveiled early next year.

This is a change in the world of Disney princesses. All of the other members of the royal court — Snow White, Cinderella, Belle, etc. — have come from feature films. Sofia is the first to be introduced in an original TV movie and series.

Sofia is also a game changer because she is the first preteen to wear the crown. Sofia is suddenly thrown into the royal world when her mother marries King Roland II.

That means that, instead of being worried whether her prince will come, Sofia has schoolwork and peer pressure to keep her busy. And she has two stepsiblings to worry about.

“Sofia has an amulet, given to her by her stepfather,” Winter said, “that gives her special powers like being able to talk to the animals or get help from other princesses when she’s in trouble.”

Winter has been acting since she was 6, appearing in commercials, movies such as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and the TV shows ER and Crossing Jordan. She shows off her comedy skills playing Alex Dunphy on ABC’s Modern Family.

Providing the voice for the main character in an animated series while starring in a TV comedy keeps Winter busy. She has done voice work in the direct-to-video release Bambi II and as the first female Robin in the two-part animated adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns. But nothing has compared to the time demands of the new Disney Junior show, which is complicated even more by its musical numbers.

Winter records the music and dialogue at different times.

“Normally it’s just me in the recording studio, but I can play off the directors. I talk to them a lot about the character,” Winter said. “It takes just as much time to do the recordings for Sofia as it does to shoot Modern Family.”

Being alone in the recording studio does make the process go faster than filming Modern Family. Everyone has so much fun making the Emmy-winning ABC program, Winter said, that it’s often surprising that any work gets done.

She considers herself lucky that she has two TV shows on the air.

“Sofia and Alex are role models,” Winter said. “Sofia is very sweet and willing to help others. I really love how much Alex values education. I never got bad grades. One time, I got a B-plus and cried.”

Except for some additional music, Winter’s work for the first season of Sofia the First is done. She’s excited that young girls — one trio in particular — will get to see this latest member of the Disney Princess court.

“I have three nieces under the age of 5,” she said, “and it’s great that their auntie will be able to give them such a positive role model.”